Candidates react to Medina school board resignation news

At an informal meet-and-greet Wednesday for November candidates, those vying for one of three seats on the Medina school board reacted positively to news of board President Karla Robinson and member Susan Vlcek’s plans to resign by the end of this school year.

Several candidates voiced hope that the resignations would improve the chances of voters passing the 5.9-mill levy on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Doug Adamczyk

Doug Adamczyk, a Medina resident who was appointed to the board to replace former board president Charles Freeman and now is running for a full term, said, “I hope that we can get more people to support the schools now that the decision has been made.”

Tom Cahalan

Tom Cahalan, who also is running for a full term after being appointed to the board to replace Dr. Robert Wilder, thanked Robinson and Vlcek and said he wanted to focus on passing the levy.

“I believe this levy is essential for our kids, for our neighborhoods and for our property values,” he said.

Eric Carpenter

Eric Carpenter, a Medina resident who works for Wolff Brothers, said he was surprised by the resignations.

“It’s probably for the better,” he said, “but I still feel bad for them.”

Angie Kovacs

Angie Kovacs, a Medina resident, running coach and graphic designer, said Vlcek and Robinson “are doing the right thing.”

“It’s what the community wants,” she said.

Now, she said, she hoped voters could focus on improving the district instead of calling for resignations.

“I think this is the best chance we have to pass a levy in a long time,” she said.

Ronald Ross

Ronald Ross, a Medina resident and retired police sergeant, said many residents he spoke to while campaigning were calling for their resignations.

“That’s all I heard,” he said.

He said he wasn’t sure if it would help pass the levy.

“We’ll see in November,” Ross said.

Robert Skidmore

Robert Skidmore, a Medina attorney, said: “I think it’s a noble decision that they’ve made. I think they’ve had much thought that played into it. I think that it proves that they were interested in the well-being of the district.”

The seventh candidate, Lafayette Township Trustee Bryon Macron, said he would be dropping out of the school board race.

Macron said he received an opinion from the Medina County Prosecutor’s Office saying that, if elected, it would be a conflict of interest for him to be a school board member and a township trustee at the same time. Macron said that though he had a desire to run for the school board, he thought he should finish his term as trustee.